Taking kids out of school for a week!

[monica9]

Thanks for your input everyone. Had no idea this would be one of those topics you don't discuss on the internet. There will be disagreement, Everyone is entitled to their opinion and we're going regardless because it's pretty much all paid for. Just wondering because I've never taken my kids out of school and wanted to see how many other people took their kids out of school for a vacation. My son is 11 and my twin girls are 6 and this will be our FIRST family vacation, so I don't fell bad about taking them out for a week because again, we don't do it every year and with me starting Nursing school pretty soon, it'll probably be about 3-4 before another family vacation. Life is short, kids grow up too fast..wanted our first family vacation to be special and I don't see us having a better time in the summer than we would right after Labor Day. Still hard to believe that the Summer is less crowded...many people still don't like to take their kids out of school(as I can read in this post)so they go in the summer.

Thanks again for your feedback, but going regardless if it is 'frowned upon' because we have been saving for a year and I've never been to Disney World, so I'm thrilled to share in the excitement with my children.

Regardless of if summer is a slow time or not, it's just too hot for us. I don't want to worry about my children getting dehydrated
You and your family are going to have a blast. Enjoy your vacation!

 

[monica9]

My son is autistic and is in an integrated classroom in fifth grade. I am taking him out for a week in May (actually a week and a day) I am super nervous about telling his school.

My DD goes to a residential HS and then spends her summers training all over the country. So time together with her is very limited. She has two weeks in May off as she is on a college schedule and we are going then. Our family has been through hell and back in the last two years including divorce and very serious cancer battle (I am currently in remission). My son does struggle with reading (but is amazing at math). I am sure he will miss some valuable instruction but we are still going. He is finally at an age I feel that he will enjoy Disney and after everything our family has been through I am just going to bite the bullet and take him.

Is it selfish? Yes. I am sure it is not helpful to his teacher at any rate. But is it important to our family? Absolutely.

Not selfish at all. After all you've been through I'm sure your time is super precious with your family. Enjoy yourself and congratulations on remission!

 

[NinaBella]

I have four kids, the youngest is now in high school. We have lived in several states and overseas and I am stuck on your wording TRIMESTER. I know, petty. I do not know of any school system that goes by TRIMESTERS. So asking others, is this a common thing in some school districts?

Elementary school I think it's fine.
Middle school can be questionable just depending on how the student does academically and what is going on during that week of school.
High School, we miss for cheer competitions but that is usually to accommodate a Friday/Monday flight and the teachers rarely are supportive and threaten to give the kids a zero for participation for the day. My son's Algebra teacher last year gave a participation grade every single day for showing up to class. He was sick with a stomach bug and we didn't do a doctor's note, so he got a zero for that day's participation. It's in her syllabus, so you can't argue it. But I can't see parents having to take a full day out of work to take a child to the doctor for a stomach ache and just wanting to stay home close to a private bathroom.

I think Labor day week is a bad week to go. If I was going to take the kids out of school I would have taken them out in October. (Posting from my home in Tampa watching the lightning and listening to the thunder for our evening thunderstorm that is rolling in.)

 

[KrazeeK120]

I have four kids, the youngest is now in high school. We have lived in several states and overseas and I am stuck on your wording TRIMESTER. I know, petty. I do not know of any school system that goes by TRIMESTERS. So asking others, is this a common thing in some school districts?

I plan to send my son to Catholic grade school and possibly high school. The K-8 school is on trimesters while the high school is on semesters. I don't have statistics on how common it is, but it definitely exists.

 

[Kindermouse]

I have four kids, the youngest is now in high school. We have lived in several states and overseas and I am stuck on your wording TRIMESTER. I know, petty. I do not know of any school system that goes by TRIMESTERS. So asking others, is this a common thing in some school districts?

It is confusing where I live. The elementary schools are on trimesters, the middle schools are on the quarter system while the high school does semesters.

 

[Cinderella94]

My mom has been a teacher for 25ish years - my brother and I missed a week of school every year from kindergarten on, for him, and 5th grade on, for me, to go to Disney. That means she missed a week of school too. My brother is in college now and I'm a fully functioning member of society with a college degree. We have lots of great memories. I can't possibly tell you what I would have learned in that week of school had I been there every year. But it clearly doesn't matter.

 

[DisneyMom199]

Wow!!! I'm quite sad to see the reaction of some of the teachers on the board. You do realize that landscapers, contractors, roofers, some pipelines, wedding planners/venue coordinators can not take vacation during the summer months in most cases. My husband has 40 vacation days a year but can only take 5 from Memorial Day to Labor Day. We always take our kids out of school for vacation!! Our district allows up to ten educational trip days per year, they must be preapproved three days in advance to qualify but our Disney trips have always gotten approved! We will be using eight educational trip days this year because we are going on a cruise in February as well.

 

[kreckl]

Teacher here- nothing is more important than family time. If thats when is best for your family, thats when you go. Ideally kids don't miss school because make up and grades can be tricky, but I don't agree that there is some magical thing happening the week you are gone that your kids will be forever scarred for missing. School is only one of the places kids learn. I also would't have them write or practice math or whatever while at Disney- have a vacation. Seriously if they took a week off in the summer from practicing math facts would it be that devastating? No different in September. Enjoy your trip!

 

[DisneyMom199]

WDW now has lower crowds in summer than most of the rest of the year. It is also less expensive than most other times of year.

This just isn't true!! Price Labor Day week against the middle of July. There is a large difference in discount availability and rack rate price!

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Every family is different. My parents pulled us out of school for some trips in elementary and middle school. We were on different school schedules so we would sometimes alternate going on vacation during my sister's spring break or mine.

We are both very successful adults and this didn't affect our learning, grades or future success in the least. No teacher had a problem with it. Our schools were both very understanding and very focused on family time. They understood that family trips and time together was important. Not one teacher gave even an eye roll or expressed any concern. We completed all of our work during our 21 hour drives each way to and from WDW. 42 hours in the car was plenty to make up the week's worth of learning.

Many parents can't take off work at the same time as their kids' school breaks. I always laugh when people say "well, the school gets X days off! Those are the days!" Well, yes, and many parents have to work holidays or can't get the same time off due to busy seasons, etc. Just because the kids are off doesn't mean the parents always can be.

Have an awesome trip, OP!! We'll be there Labor Day week too.

 

[Cinderella94]

Many parents can't take off work at the same time as their kids' school breaks. I always laugh when people say "well, the school gets X days off! Those are the days!" Well, yes, and many parents have to work holidays or can't get the same time off due to busy seasons, etc. Just because the kids are off doesn't mean the parents always can be.

Right! And how many of those days in the number people give are weekends?? Doesn't help much for taking a vacation somewhere.

 

[Shanti]

This just isn't true!! Price Labor Day week against the middle of July. There is a large difference in discount availability and rack rate price!

Mid-July has had great discounts and availability for the past two years. Much better than late September, all of October, November, and December, late February, all of March and April. In other words, much better than most of the school year.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Mid-July has had great discounts and availability for the past two years. Much better than late September, all of October, November, and December, late February, all of March and April. In other words, much better than most of the school year.

Sure, but not Labor Day week, when OP is going. What does late September through the fall have to do with anything? Labor Day week is cheaper and less crowded than summer, while still hot. Sure, summer crowds are lower compared to other years but they're not less than Labor Day week...

 

[Kindermouse]

Mid-July has had great discounts and availability for the past two years. Much better than late September, all if October, November, and December, late February, all of March and April. In other words, much better than most of the school year.

Agreed, I couldn't get a discount to save my life the first week of October.

To those that cant or wont go in the summer (which I get since neither will I, I have no tolerance for the weather June-September and can only barely handle October plus I have to teach summer school if I want to have the money for my family to have a vacation) do your schools have other breaks? My school has an 8 week summer, 2 weeks off in October, 1 week off in November, 2 and a half weeks late December through early January, 2 weeks off in March, and a 5 day weekend for Easter wherever it may fall. We also plan teacher work days around holidays that are associated with absences so that there arent anymore absences than necessary for example we have a teacher work day the Friday before labor day weekend so that it is a 4 weekend rather than just a 3 day weekend. Since we have so much time off we run on an accelerated pacing schedule. Look into your schools calendar and you may be surprised how much opportunity there is to take vacations without taking any time off or only a few days.

The high schools around here do not give absent work unless it is for a verifiable medical issue and students can and do fail if they take an extended vacation and then they have to do summer school or not graduate on time so make sure of the school policies. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I say this not to sound disproving of people choices of when to go on vacation-I make it a priority for my family too-I say this because every school districts situation is different so asking for opinions of people who are in a very different position than oneself might be less than helpful. If you just want validation...well people come to the internet looking for far worse things I guess.

 

[Momto2minniemice]

Never let school get in the way of learning! Enjoy your vacation and don't think twice.

My kids have missed a week of school for vacations for years (mostly disney). This year a vacation will start 3 days after school starts, I asked my oldest when it would be best for her to miss school due to her classes. She picked the start of the year as they are still reviewing. For my youngest this is how i see it. She has a full week of PE (way more than the short 30 mins in school), Epcot is teaching culture and leads to geography and Animal Kingdom is science/music. They will learn to read a map, plan a schedule, and maintain a budget with spending money which equals math. The whole day is spent reading too. You can have a whole lesson on clouds as you fly and then the whole flying thing can be another topic, just saying.

Also we have family time that we normally would not get as my husbands job and mine keep us on the go. We can not just take off when kids are out of school as that is when EVERYONE tries to get off. I have never had a teacher have a problem with it either. Yes they can only miss so many days of school and willing to risk that number and that is fine with us.

 

[DisneyMom199]

Agreed, I couldn't get a discount to save my life the first week of October.

To those that cant or wont go in the summer (which I get since neither will I, I have no tolerance for the weather June-September and can only barely handle October plus I have to teach summer school if I want to have the money for my family to have a vacation) do your schools have other breaks? My school has an 8 week summer, 2 weeks off in October, 1 week off in November, 2 and a half weeks late December through early January, 2 weeks off in March, and a 5 day weekend for Easter wherever it may fall. We also plan teacher work days around holidays that are associated with absences so that there arent anymore absences than necessary for example we have a teacher work day the Friday before labor day weekend so that it is a 4 weekend rather than just a 3 day weekend. Since we have so much time off we run on an accelerated pacing schedule.
I say this because every school districts situation is different so asking for opinions of people who are in a very different position than oneself might be less than helpful. If you just want validation...well people come to the internet looking for far worse things I guess.

The only other time our district has a week off besides summer is Christmas to New Years. Easter we get Good Friday and The following Monday. But those are two religious holidays that we would never travel over because for us attending our services is our number one priority. We have a few other long weekends, most are reserved for snow day make up rather than a true day off.

I agree with you that each district is very different and you should look to see the absence policy at your school. I was surprised to see that our district allows 10 educational trip days at ALL grade levels! BUT they also allow 5 excused days for farm work so that make give you insight into my area

 

[Mollymarie86]

Every family is different. My parents pulled us out of school for some trips in elementary and middle school. We were on different school schedules so we would sometimes alternate going on vacation during my sister's spring break or mine.

We are both very successful adults and this didn't affect our learning, grades or future success in the least. No teacher had a problem with it. Our schools were both very understanding and very focused on family time. They understood that family trips and time together was important. Not one teacher gave even an eye roll or expressed any concern. We completed all of our work during our 21 hour drives each way to and from WDW. 42 hours in the car was plenty to make up the week's worth of learning.

Many parents can't take off work at the same time as their kids' school breaks. I always laugh when people say "well, the school gets X days off! Those are the days!" Well, yes, and many parents have to work holidays or can't get the same time off due to busy seasons, etc. Just because the kids are off doesn't mean the parents always can be.

Have an awesome trip, OP!! We'll be there Labor Day week too.

That's awesome to hear! We plan on driving 19 hours and this is our first trip to Disney World! We haven't even told the kids yet. We plan on telling them on Labor Day and getting their excitement on video. We really have never been able to go on a family vacation and wanted to make it extra special because this may be our only vacation for a long time. I'm going to start Nursing school and that will take up a lot of my time. These memories are very important to me since kids grow up way too fast! I don't think they'll miss out on counting by 10's, writing their names, coloring a picture in art, or recess with friends. It's not like they are missing state tests or anything. If they have to miss school, then the beginning of the year is better, in my opinion...They will be missing their 3rd week of school.

 

[DrunkJam]

We are in the UK, and yes, we can be fined for taking children out of school during term time for holidays.

BUT, I think it is very short sighted to say you will NEVER do something.

School is very important, but, like life, it lasts your whole life. You are a learning machine and will be learning until you die. And life will happen around you whatever you plan. And you cannot go back and do family time over. You Can go back and so an exam again.

My children have excellent attendance, although I do encourage them to care enough about themselves to take the time they need if they are ill (also this is important for germ transmission purposes, all the times teachers and pupils heroically turn up to school sick, they are endangering our family, and who knows how many others, and it teaches kids they don't matter if we celebrate this "come to work sick" thing). Work matters, but them getting well, not important. That is not how I want my children to see their life. They can still have a strong work ethic, AND believe that they are worth caring for when they are sick.

Still, I digress, my son just won a medal for 100% attendance (lucky him he didn't catch anything serious enough to make him stay home, his sister missed 2 days)

BUT, now, my husband has incurable leukaemia (so, yes, genuinely, heroically spreading germs around school could cause us massive problems) and we have discussed our future holiday and absence plans with the school. Our children will be missing the last nine days before Christmas, so we can take them to WDW, where we got married, while their father is still well enough to go with them. (We can only pray that this continues to be the case) There will be no fine. Of course, school understands that the children will benefit more from doing this with their Dad than those 9 days of school.

Nothing is set in stone. School is important, and we support school, and school work whole heartedly, but even school and teachers understand that life is more than that, and you cannot make life fit a school term.

It's also not about the financial cost of the trip, it's about getting time between his appointments, and work, and knowing what school actually teaches in the run in to Christmas, and making the best use of the time available.

 

[chicagoshannon]

That's awesome to hear! We plan on driving 19 hours and this is our first trip to Disney World! We haven't even told the kids yet. We plan on telling them on Labor Day and getting their excitement on video. We really have never been able to go on a family vacation and wanted to make it extra special because this may be our only vacation for a long time. I'm going to start Nursing school and that will take up a lot of my time. These memories are very important to me since kids grow up way too fast! I don't think they'll miss out on counting by 10's, writing their names, coloring a picture in art, or recess with friends. It's not like they are missing state tests or anything. If they have to miss school, then the beginning of the year is better, in my opinion...They will be missing their 3rd week of school.

We always drive. It's an adventure in itself. I highly recommend stopping at the Florida Welcome Center. It's a nice diversion about 3 hours from Disney. You get free juice and they have nice displays and a lot of brochures. The kids can grab brochures and it will keep them busy for the rest of the drive.

 

[goodeats]

At our school if you tell them far enough in a advance the teacher can prepare an independent study packet and they are not "absenses" for state funding purposes. Of course this is a giant PITA for the teachers and they don't want to do it either. Not to mention who wants to do homework or worksheets at WDW? Most teachers would tell you to have a great time.

My older daughter does better with consistency and routine so I would hesitate to take her out of school for a week. I would do it for a once in a lifetime opportunity, but not a random WDW trip. We are planning to go as a family in the third week of August next year so we don't miss school. But I am jealous of the people who are able to do it.